Skill or Spill

Do you write with skill or with crayons from once upon a time?

I'm sorry that I've been away for a bit, and that even now I'm late with my blog. Life has a tendency to distract us from our regularly schedule programs. Please don't think I'm out of commission. I'm simply a bit late this week, but eager to move forward with my thoughts.

I've heard that necessity is the mother of invention, and I wondered if that is also true in writing. Do you find that writing about pain and suffering is easier when you're dealing with your own pain? How about laughter, do you find it comfortable to write of a comedy scene while you're in the midst of happiness?

If you actually wait for these emotions your writing will take forever to be completed. However, if you tap into your painful past when writing that might help. To some that would awaken feelings you want to keep stashed away, in which case you can borrow the emotions from someone else. Use the pain from one of your favorite authors to feel the emotions you need and then project them on your page. Please keep in mind you are not plagiarizing someone else's writing, but rather the emotion you felt when you read it.

You don't have to be a tortured soul to write about pain. But, you do have to understand its force, its complexity, and most of all how it affects everyone around the person who is in pain. I don't have to go out and kill someone to write about murder, but I do have to understand the reason why someone would murder. If your writing does not come from a real place, everyone who reads it will know it's fake.

A picture of a beautiful meadow is nice, but a painting of a beautiful meadow is more inspiring. The picture is more exact than the painting, but the painting takes a great level of skill with your hands. A pictured takes a great level of skill with understanding light, camera equipment, and the position from which the picture was taken. Is one a greater piece of art than the other? No, I don't believe that to be true. Nonetheless, you can't compare my ability to connect the dots with a crayon to either a skillfully done painting or picture.

On the other hand, I don't have to go to college to learn how to paint. College is another tool I can use. Leonardo Da Vinci became a genius in more than one field. He mastered subjects as diverse as surgical anatomy, cartography, archaeology and engineering to botany. College will only permit you to study one subject at a time with possibly a minor in another subject. In our current society, if you have not obtained a college degree majoring in one subject, you are still in limbo. I have several friends who have been in college for six years or more and have no major degree. This is because they only take the classes they desire to study rather than required classes for a degree.

I understand that everyone should be well rounded, but don't dictate to me what I should be studying, what courses I have to take, and which I must turn away. Do whatever it takes to acquire the necessary skills you need.

Write with skill and passion, if you desire people to read it. After all it is art you're creating. However, if you feel differently, please let me know. I can take it.

And remember… Always stay in your write mind.